Phoenix brothers Ned and Dylan Govender have been cleared of killing Mondli Majola who was allegedly murdered in Phoenix during the civil unrest in July 2021.
In acquitting the Govender siblings of murder on Friday, 19 May, the Durban High Court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove that the brothers killed Majola during the week-long unrest. The brothers were charged for murder and three counts of attempted murder that happened in the Phoenix area 2021, during the widespread looting and public violence in various parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson in KZN, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the brothers were charged for the murder of Majola as well as for the attempted murders of Nkululeko Mangwe, Mxolisi Putuzo, and that of Qaphelani Mkovu.
She said: “In handing down the judgment, the court found that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the charge of murder against them and convicted them of assault GBH. The court also found that there was insufficient evidence to convict them of the attempted murder of Mangwe, and they were thus convicted of common assault. They were convicted for the attempted murder of Putuzo and acquitted of the attempted murder of Mkovu.”
The Govender brothers’ bail of R15 000 each was extended and the matter has been remanded to 5 July, for sentencing. Community activist, Narendh Ganesh took to social media to express his views on the case.
He said: “The verdict by the Durban High Court in finding brothers Dylan and Ned Govender not guilty of murder, but guilty of assault during the July 2021 unrest in Phoenix, brings to an and end a very sad and tragic episode in our history that should never have happened. Any death is a tragedy and deaths of our fellow citizens during the unrest in July 2021 as a result of gratuitous and uncalled for violence has to be condemned. The fact that the Govender brothers were found not guilty vindicates their not guilty pleas as well as allays unfounded aspersions and untoward speculations that there were ‘racially’ motivated murders committed during this period.”
He said: “The sad death of the deceased, Mr Majola, should never have been and that the state could not prove its case on the high standard of beyond reasonable doubt deserves further investigation as to the reasons why such charges were brought in the first place. The accused who were incarcerated for a long period of time, being denied bail repeatedly, should be of serious concern as their rights had been violated, perhaps to satisfy a politically motivated and/or racial agenda. In fact, one of the so-called accused Jeetendra Jaikisoon died while in prison, spending three months of incarceration while being repeatedly denied bail, and he too could have been in a similar boat of being found not guilty as prima facie evidence suggested that he was not involved in any murder.”
“Today cannot be a happy day – relief perhaps for the accused – but it is testimony to the horrific incidents during which people lost their lives, including Mr Majola, but the perpetrators and instigators of the July 2021 unrest are the thugs that need to be brought to book and must be punished, for it was through their actions and motives that people lost their lives. While one family will rejoice – another will still grieve, but we need to learn from the events of those tragic and horrible days that South Africa must never be subjected to the whims and selfish interests of certain people who will place ordinary citizen’s lives at risk, only to satisfy their hunger for power, mayhem and anarchy. I believe justice has prevailed but sadly its hollow justice simply because lives were unnecessarily lost and people’s freedoms were denied without fair cause,” added Ganesh.
